i'm sure you've all heard about the buses by now

bus, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you haven't seen the news, and I can't see how being as it's national now, a pair of charter buses slid down East Thomas and busted through the guardrail on Melrose Avenue and hung over I5. I used to live on this corner (seriously awesome view), and the Seattle Times article doesn't mention this, but East Thomas is one of the few cobblestone streets left on the hill and it's dangerous when it's wet, let alone covered in ice and snow.

The fact that one bus driver turned down this obviously dangerous street is one thing, but that the next followed just blows me away. No chains, icy roads, and a turn down a steep grade that ends in a guardrail. Seriously folks. wth.

Update: I saw a woman on the local news say she was de-icing the sidewalk when the buses started their turn. She waved at them and told them to stop, and they just kept going. Awesome.

Capitol Hill loves Vietnamese

broadway cafe, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you want Vietnamese food on the hill, it doesn't seem like it should be a problem.

There's Than Bros, Pho 900, Phocyclo, The place in "The Alley", Ballet, Pho Tai and Broadway Cafe. Broadway Cafe also carries Humbow. Shinka has humbow, but no Pho. I never make it up to the "fancy pants" parts, so I don't know if this exists already, but who has the best pastries, and are they open in the morning? Inquiring minds want to know.

My current vietnamese sandwich haunt is the Broadway Cafe, and it hurts me to let you know, because I don't like it when the place is full, but I have to say, it's the biggest bestest (and jalepeno-est) on the hill. The captothehill girls also agree, so you dont have to take my word alone.

it's cold out

volunteer park reservoir, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

It's cold out, and it's slippery business walkin. I've heard that it'll be 3-6 inches of snow soon, and looking at the grey grey skies, I believe it. Windy, cold, snowy. Brr.

It's also the last hacknight of the year at Metrix tonight. I'd link to the SeattleWireless site, but it's down due to DDOS. Blah.

Cold, snowy, box is down, last hacknight of the year. Tonight could be trouble.

There's a 2 pound box of chocolate in the office too.

little teapot

little teapot, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Walking in today, I got to see a bunch of people who usually accost me with a survey or a cause (they all had their clipboards down and I didn't catch which group they were with) doing a rendition of "I'm a little teapot" on Broadway.

Team building exercise or just a tad of whimsy, I'm not complaining. I was amused...

voting

i voted!, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Today was the day to vote, and the last chance we get to vote at our local polls.

I'm bothered about the move to mail-in only ballots. Voting is one of those things that I remember my parents doing when I was young, and bringing my son to the polls is something that I enjoy and looked forward to in the future.

Voting shouldn't be like sending in a bill, or filling out a survey.

There's something special about going to vote, filling in the bubbles and watching your vote go into the machine. You're there with your neighbors, you talk with the volunteers. You leave feeling like you've taken part in the process, and I just don't understand how this mail-in thing is going to give me that same feeling. Will this move really improve turnout?

I understand that it's cheaper to do mail in voting, and I understand that the only inevitable thing in this life is change. But it saddens me to see this piece of our democracy go away.

Park(ing)

parking, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Friday was Park(ing) day, and a park was set up right out in front of the office. An already unproductive day, and lured by the live music, I decided to head on down and see if I could learn the rules of cribbage through observation, and drink a little coffee.

Turns out I can drink coffee. I'm a pro at that.

the way is blocked

the way is blocked, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I was walking in to work today, when I heard a crack, looked up, and saw this branch fall right in front of me. If I was a fast walking ipod type of person, it could have been the end of me.

I suppose it pays to slack.

Fire Grill BBQ?

fire grill bbq, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Pretty much anything sounds better than Magic Dragon to me, but I have to say, BBQ sounds pretty good. Now it's just a matter of pinning down *which kind* of BBQ it is. My bets are on Brazillian. Any other guesses?

um. yeah.

um., originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I'm not really sure what to think about this van.

eyes on broadway

eyes on broadway, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Walking home tonight, I spotted this huge poleful of cameras pointed at the intersection of Broadway and John. Is this a red light camera or is someone really interested in what's on sale at the rite-aid? Either way, that tree right in front of the camera is going to have to get cut down.

It will of course need to be covered with graffiti and stickers for it to turn invisible. I give it a week.

Wii Wednesdays!

wii-wednesdays, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Pretty much every wednesday, the SeattleWireless crew has HackNight at my office, then we wander off to a bar for drinks until we get a craving for tacos. This week, we went up to the Rubber Ducky Regatta at Cal Anderson park, said our farewells to Vivace, and dropped into the Metropolitain Grill Cafe Metropolitain for a couple of cold PBRs.

We discovered that in addition to the $1 PBRs during happy hour, the Metropolitain has Free WiFi, Foosball, Pool, and wednesdays full of Wii playing. Needless to say, we got our Wii on and knocked back a bunch of cheap beer.

For a bar that has a billion little distractions, it always seems light on people (although there did appear to be a stitch and bitch in progress when we showed up). Maybe it's the weird disney/vegas-esque indoor outdoor theme, maybe it's just because it's out of the way, or on the way to other places.

what's on the board?

what's on the board?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

When I'm hurtin for stuff to write about, I just head over to Office Nomads and check out the events board.

Sustainable Capitol Hill is throwing a sustainability festival called "Imagine Capitol Hill" on Sunday July 20th. There will be food and art, live music and dancing in the streets. It will be adjacent to the Farmers Market off Broadway, so if you're headed up there for tasty tasty jams or some omfg awesome ice cream (last week I got a spicy mexican chocolate cone), you'll have to check it out.

It's guaranteed to be a good time.

If that's not soon enough for you and you really wanna get your block party on, the East Precinct is also having a party neighborhood picnic this Saturday. Free food, a raffle, and information booths!

Mystery or Mysry?

Mystery or Mysry?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you're feeling like you need a change and of course, you have some change, drop by the locksmith's coke machine on John, just east of Broadway. Put your $0.55 in the machine and punch a button. Mystery or Mysry. A can of frosty unknown.

If you can't handle the unknown, the machine also has Coke, Pepsi and Mountain Dew.

I'm fairly certain this is one of the cheapest and most refreshing deals on the hill.

$5 a gallon by July 4th

fuel crisis at SPD, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I've heard the price of gas keeps going up. I guess it's a good thing we dont have a car. I wonder how hard this is going to hit the price of shipping.

SPD braved the weather randomness on horseback today. I wonder why more people don't have horses in the city. Maybe soon.

bees

bees, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Sometimes it's hard to write stuff down, even when there's a lot going on, so here's a picture of a bee. It's a beautiful day out.

I've been tapped to contribute over at Capitol Hill Seattle blog, and there's a bit of overlap, so I'm going to have to pick up the pace.

manchester united

manchester united, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

A group of Manchester United fans has been celebrating their Champions League win all day down at Kurrent on Pine. They've been shouting, tooting horns and singing at the top of their lungs all day (I think they started around 9AM).

It's the first time I've ever seen Kurrent full and spilling out onto the street.

Good times.

hot out

fisher, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

The news didn't lie, it was 90 today. we played in the fountain at Fisher Plaza, what did you do to get out of the heat?

Capitol Hill's Garry Oak is in Danger

Belmont Place, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

There's been a bit of talk about the Seattle Garry Oak (Quercus Garryana) at Oak Manor lately, and I live across the street from it, so I thought I'd pass on a bit of information that I've recently picked up.

First, it's not actually part of Oak Manor. It and the .02 acres that it stands on are a City of Seattle pocket park called Belmont Place. We all own it, which is awesome, because we all get to enjoy it (yes, we can picnic under it if we feel like it), but unfortunately, that brings me to the second bit of news.

It is sick. We had an arborist come by to look at one of our trees, and he was of the opinion that the tree is in danger. Its leaves haven't been filling out as much as they used to, and it is very probable that is is afflicted by a fungus (in Seattle? Really?). The message has been passed to the Parks Department, and it sounds like they need to run some tests to find out what it is, and possible treatments they can use to save it.

I'm sure the Seattle Parks Department realizes how important this tree is both to the neighborhood and the city (it's a fairly rare tree, and native to the region), but I'd hate to see the ball get dropped on this one. A few years back we lost the tree in Thomas Street Park to disease, and although they've replanted, it'll be decades before there's shade there. I'm not advocating letter-bombing the parks department or anything, but it might be a good idea to let them know you're concerned too.

olive tree bistro?

olive tree bistro?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Wow. After more than a year of sitting empty, with a "Business Opportunity" sign, Coco La Ti Da's empty space at the Loveless looks like it's finally getting filled. Olive Tree Bistro LLC has put in their application for a liquor license.

It looks like the applicants (thanks for the pointer seadevi!) are Chef Philippe Thomelin and his wife Toni, who run Olive Tree Catering. Philippe also fills in time to time at Rovers and Voila Bistro. Just by digging through the Olive Tree Catering site, I would assume the cuisine will be spanish inspired, french, and spendy. Maybe not a weekly standby, but if they last longer than coco, it might be a nice place for special occasions. Certainly cut down on the cab fare ;)

The Chupa?

the chupa?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

On the way into work the other day, I noticed a Liquor License Application on 129 Belmont Ave E. It looks like "The Chupa" is coming soon. Anyone have an inside scoop?

Where's the 800 block?

700, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Just north of the 700 block on Boylston Avenue East, addresses start at 900. A while ago, a woman in a car stopped and asked me directions to an 800 address. I was stumped, and I've wondered about it ever since. I've asked a few neighbors, but of course, nobody knows why it doesn't exist. I figure it's easy to find out the history of something that exists, but where do you go when you're trying to find out the non-existence of something?

Just what is Chelada anyway?

srsly... chill., originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

OK. this is freaking me out. A while back, I was in the QFC and saw Chelada!. This weekend, there's another one. Except it's different. Completely different. First was Clamato and Budweiser.. Now it's Miller and Lime.. I can actually see adding lime to beer, I do it to get the skunk out of Corona, and it's pretty much accepted universally in mexican-beer-land. The slightest chance of clamato pretty much insures that I'll never ever say "Pick me up a Chelada at the QFC".

Don't marketing people look at their competition's campaigns? What the hell?

bike tweak

bike tweak, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

It's officially spring. Joe Bar is having it's annual Bike Tweak today. If you've been putting off your bicycle maintenance all winter, cruise on up and they'll lube your chain and make sure your brakes work when you hit that Roy to Belmont curve.

Bike Tweak is a good time, and though they can bring your dusty old basement bomber back from the near-dead, they don't promise miracles. Last year, I brought my 1986 Haro Sport freestyler, and they told me it was unsafe at any speed. Bent axles, cracked front bearings, scary scary cables and disintegrating tires. I had hoped that armed with a checklist I would have it back on the road this year, but unfortunately I just couldn't come up with the motivation to do it. Maybe next year...

books on broadway

self publisher, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

For the past 7 years, Brett Dean McGibbon has been selling his books in front of the Broadway News on Broadway. He pulls up a card table, covers it with his laser printed, leather bound books, and strikes up conversations.

One of his books, Lucifer's Redemption, is about the devil, born on earth with one weakness, the human heart. It's a tale of crossing the United States on a motorcycle, Alaskan fishing boats and falling in love with God in a woman. I only got the quick pitch on the book, but I did get to talk to him a little bit about self publishing and his experience on Broadway.

Apparently, the online world hasn't worked for Brett. He has a website (www.differentfish.com), but he tells me that for the most part, it doesn't generate sales at all. His direct method of selling has sold thousands of books and makes enough for him to live on. In our short talk, it made complete sense. He's passionate about his work, is proud of his product, and has the temerity to sit alone at a table in Seattle and not only strike up a conversation, but attempt to sell a product to strangers. He handed me a small piece of paper with a passage from his book.

Apparently, like a seed, for the stubborn like me, the hard shell of the heart must crack, be broken before anything worthwhile can bloom...

He told me that once he gave these slips (and he has a stack of hundreds) to spare changers, so they could give something out instead of just asking for money. Later he asked if it had helped or hurt. They told him that when asking for change, they could expect indifference, but by handing out anything, they garnered hostility.

It's funny, at first I feigned surprise, but it really isn't all that surprising. Walking down Broadway every day, I am bombarded by people asking for change, trying to sell me a newspaper, wanting to tell me a story (which is usually a longer, more involved form of panhandle or scam), hand me a flier for a shop or a service. If I accept the flier, I'm stuck with it. It'll go in my pocket, and get put on my bookshelf when I get home, with a pile of receipts and other pocket offal. It will probably get tossed in a box of papers to be sorted, shredded or filed, which will almost certainly be forgotten and stored as-is. Years later, I'll see it for the first time, and think "wow. that is a really good deal on Doc Martens, why did The Cramp close anyway?"

All in all, Brett is an interesting, charismatic face on the north end of Broadway. If you're interested in picking up a book, you can renew his faith in the Internet by picking one up at his online store, or you can drop by the Broadway News on a Friday and he'll show you what he's got available and hook you up with a signed copy. If you're not interested in his book, that's OK too, but don't be mean to him when you walk by. He's a nice guy.

Sound Transit, Broadway Station

Today after work, we (and about 130 other people) headed over to SCCC to listen to Sound Transit talk about the upcoming Broadway Station. This meeting was there to tell the public about the design of the station, it's impact on the neighborhood, the landscaping and the art.

For the most part, the station entrances are glass, green walls (like the Capitol Hill Library) and masonry. Special attention has been paid to provide plenty of light and a clean look. They mentioned the spirit of the neighborhood a lot, but on the walk home, I didn't really see a lot of buildings with enormous windows letting in natural light or big glass walls. Maybe they know more about what's going to happen with the monster condo projects planned in between now and then.

They talked about the truck routes that will be taking away the debris from knocking down 2 blocks worth of buildings, and although efficient (going up Denny and coming back down Olive to the freeway), I'm not looking forward to crossing two lines of dump trucks in a hurry on my way to work. One question from the audience asked about putting in a stoplight crosswalk at Olive and Boylston, and the danger of that particular intersection. I cross that street pretty much every day, and I have to say, that's probably a good idea. I hate that intersection. It's dangerous. In fact, the route crosses two of the most dangerous intersections on the hill. It's going to be an adventure.

They talked a bit about trees, and I mostly blanked out. I don't know what kind of trees the architect was talking about, and it's pretty hard to tell with the artwork (and even worse with my pictures of the slides... sorry). We have lots of trees on the hill, and they're going to keep it that way. At one point, she mentioned that they're going to replace three trees they're knocking out of Cal Anderson with 6 additional trees. They're not knocking down the "important tree" at the entrance, which is good to know.

What got a rise out of pretty much everyone was the art. Mike Ross, the artist who built Big Rig down at Burning Man this year sort of fumbled through his thought process, talking about how Seattleites (he's from Brooklyn) love nature, and how he googled "What I love about Seattle is" and got a lot of hits on rain. He talked about descending into the huge station, and how it was like coming through the clouds. Then he dropped the bomb. He's making his sculpture out of Fighter Jets. He'll be painting them pink and orange, cutting them up, and making natural shapes out of them. He had a picture of a Great Blue Heron (our cities official bird) , and although he said it'd be shaped something like that, I didn't walk away with a feeling that it would be a literal representation. I walked away with the knowledge that the largest and most expensive pieces of public art on Capitol Hill will be pink and orange weapons of war.

Here's my flickr set, which should have most of the slides, but the color is completely out of whack because of their projector. Awful really, but if you want the content, it's there.

everlasting puddles

everlasting puddles, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Have you ever noticed there are some spots on the hill that always have huge puddles? This one, on the corner of Belmont and Mercer is pretty scary to walk by. Cars love to hit it and watch the mud water mix spray all over the hydrant and pedestrians. It's a block from the stop sign, so they've generally got enough speed for it to hit that garage wall when it's big enough. There's another up on Boylston (north of Roy) that last I looked took up 6 parking spaces. We've started calling that one "Lake Boylston". It's been there for years, and although my neighbors told me calls to the city have gone unanswered, the tubes have informed me that just moaning about it probably wont do any good. I think I'm going to call the DOT and see what happens.

On a different, but related topic, there are a lot of potholes on the hill. I wonder if the Pothole Rangers really do fix things in 48 hours. There's one on Roy that has been pissing me off for years. Am I really going to be the first person to call about it?

Office Nomads: Come and Go

Go, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I've decided that I haven't been playing enough Go lately (none at all for the past few years) and to remedy this, I've brought my Go set to Office Nomads. It's a nice set, and I'm here on Thursdays during the day. If you play Go, or are interested in learning how to play, come down.

If you don't know what I'm talking about at all, check out the Wikipedia page on Go

happy st patricks dai!

st patricks day, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

We will be knocking your Irish bars down now. kthxbai.

Seriously. They've been stalling on this project for how long now?

Anonymous

Anonymous, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Today is L Ron Hubbard's birthday. I'm not sure if it's a Scientologist holiday or anything, but it's when Anonymous gets together to remind the Church that they're after them. Anonymous, a loose organization of people from The Internet, has put Scientology on Notice.

I heard about the protest in February, but I didn't make it down to get any pictures. This time, I decided I had to check it out. WikiNews was also there, and did a much better job of reporting the worldwide event.

The few people that I talked to assured me that they were not actually against Scientology as a religion, but had a beef with the management. A man who was part of the church for 30 years, told me that he believed in the ideals of the religion, but did not like the tactics of the organization, and that it "hunted down" people leaving the church. I didn't see any hunters, but I did notice a large amount of IR CCTV in their parking lot. As far as "Church" goes, it's got to be one of the jankier buildings in town, and it's right on Aurora. They're definitely not spending their money on architecture or real estate.

While I was there, a couple of people showed up and went in the building. They were shouted at, told to Google some terms, visit xenu.net, and outed as Scientologists. I was accused of being one as well ( I didn't wear a mask, and was apparently on the wrong side of the parking strip at one point on my bike ), but once I explained that I too was from The Internet, and not working press, they relaxed a little.

I have to say, it was definitely lulz, and I'm looking forward to taking pictures of the next one. Speaking of which, here's the flickr set.

wow. that sure is blue

blue bus, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with the building in the last post which is apparently part-havana. But it's pretty blue.

not wings

that sure is blue, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I don't think I've ever been in this building. I think it was a hair salon before it became the Wing Dome. Now it's Tiffany box blue. I gotta say, I'm curious.

Broadway Grocery

point 83, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Last night, I was on a take-out run, and stopped by Broadway Grocery for a half-gallon of milk. This place has like 20 refrigerators packed with beer, wine and energy drinks, but not one carton of milk. Can you really call it a grocery store at that point?

another bike rack post?

third rack, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Apparently the "new" bike rack wasn't enough. A third rack, one of the spiffy SDOT Bicycle Circles was added just the other day.

The Lunch Bus

Rail, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Yesterday, Eric, Andy and I took a ride on the Sound Transit Lunch Bus, a guided tour of the Light Rail in progress. They say in 2009, we'll be able to take a train from the downtown bus tunnel to Tukwila Station, then later in the year, Seatac Airport. Judging by the progress we've seen, It looks like they're on schedule, and mass transit really is coming to Seattle.

The Lunch Bus took us on a tour of all the stops between the International District and the Airport, and we stayed close to the line throughout the trip, stopping in Columbia City for pork sandwiches at Jones BBQ. Tour guides Jeff Munnoch and Roger Pence told us about all the stops on the line, the construction process, the art, and the outreach efforts that Sound Transit has gone through to create the 16 mile line that broke ground in 2003. There were a lot of questions and answers, and some were very interesting, but all I did was take pictures and put them in a Lunch Bus Flickr set (I'm lousy at taking notes, but I do carry two cameras). Eric got video, and will be putting it on the tubes as soon as he figures out how to edit it all down in Linux.

Thanks to the Sound Transit Community Outreach organizers Wilbert Santos, Jeff Munnoch and Roger Pence for answering all of our questions and providing a fun friday diversion.

pictures wanted

poster vandals, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

For anyone running around taking photos of poster vandals (or other neighborhood nifties), here's an added request. If you see someone out taking a dog for it's daily poop, and they don't bag it and run off, catch a picture of them and send me the link. I'm tired of stepping in poop, so it's time for a shame campaign. If you're one of the sneaky sidewalk poopers, consider yourself warned.

signs of something.

no cherry blossoms this year, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I guess I spoke too soon about the QFC. As I walked by today, I noticed they've ripped out all the cherry trees that line the sidewalk. I'm sure there will be something better there soon....

qfc north

abandoned qfc, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

When QFC first moved into the Broadway Market, I was of a mixed mind. On one hand, the neighborhood got a much better grocery store than the previous QFC and the Safeway combined. On the other, we lost a Fred Meyer and all the interesting bits of the Broadway Market, both of which I spent a lot of time in. We do most of our shopping there, and although discussion has popped up about the need for more and more niche grocers, I have to say, they've got most of what I need (although I'm not big on some of their specials).

It's been about 3 years since they abandoned their old building, the Bartells is long gone, and Taco Bell closed at the beginning of this year. I still see lights on in the apartments on the North West side of the block, so I wonder just how long it's going to take to start construction on their mega project. If the vacant lot across the street that was the Harvard House is any indicator, I think we're in for a wait.

ewaste

ewaste, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Electronic Waste sucks. The Seattle Weekly says the city will come pick up the monitors in 2009, and that derelict dumping isn't a huge problem, but I see at least one monitor dumped every day on Capitol Hill.

Currently, it costs $12 to "recycle" a monitor at Staples. The city doesn't have any sort of facility to pick this stuff up curbside. What happens to it when it's left on the curb?

Somewhat related (in a smashing stuff, bikini girl way), I saw this vid on BoingBoing today, "Throwing Away Broken Electronics". Enjoy...

Trompe L'oeil on First Hill

lindeman pavillion, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

While not officially on my meandering route to work (or even on Capitol Hill), the Lindeman Pavillion at Virginia Mason is a wonderful bit of whimsy in the city. I remember the first time I saw this building back in the early nineties, I had to walk up and touch it (it was late, I was inebriated).

It's a beautiful example of Trompe L'oeil, and I wonder if the idea came before or after they had made the entire north face of the building with no windows. I seem to remember it having a bit more contrast back then, but I would imagine it's a bit tougher to maintain than sheets of glass and brick.

It's Capitol Hill

lrn to spl pls, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I'm not a spelling nazi by any means, but every time I see Capital Hill on an Internet post, or even worse, on a sign, it makes me a little sad and it stokes my inner editor. It's Capitol Hill, and it was named in 1901. Whether it was named as a sentimental nod to a Denver neighborhood, or as a money-making scheme, it is still Capitol Hill. Unless you're being ironic, and talking about the infusion of development money, please learn to spell.

Coming Soon: cats and paperbacks

coming soon, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I'm sure you've probably heard of this already, but Twice Sold Tales is moving from their Broadway and John location to the SW corner of Harvard and E Denny. I wonder if they'll be able to keep their late night hours now that they'll be in the first floor of an apartment building. Either way, I'm glad to see that light rail isn't pushing them off of the hill.

crawl space?

crawl space, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

On the way in today, I noticed this sign for Crawl Space. It is on a fence just south of the Hillcrest Market, on Summit, in the Denny/Olive split. Intrigued, I did a bit of googling and found it is the Crawl Space Gallery, open noon-to-five on Sundays. Going through their website, it looks like a pretty interesting gallery. They should probably remove Redline and Messiah as landmarks from their directions page though, both are now defunct.

Late Night Eats: Taco Gringos

taco gringos, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

Nearly every Wednesday, we hang out at the office late, invite folks over, and hack on things. Pretty much every week, the where-do-we-get-food conversation kicks in just as all the restaurants close, leaving us with a hungry walk home. This week however, we remembered Taco Gringos, the new hole in the wall on Olive Way. We trekked over and found out that not only are they open until 2, they're excellent eats.

The sign says two bucks gets a taco in Vegetarian, Beef, or Chorizo, but I've read on the Interwebs that fillings vary by day (one choice is always vegetarian) and that's why it is written in chalk. One more dollar gets you a bottle of fine mexican soda or a canned fanta. The tacos are indeed small but they are seriously awesome, come with a lime slice and optional salsa.

how about a game of chess?

purplecrow, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I don't play chess much any more, but a hippie man named purplecrow has been hanging out down at Stumptown with a chess set and some fairly solid game.

Purplecrow (one word he tells me) likes to wager, and will put up his shiny silver dollar against your preferably purple trinkets. I lost a purple flashlight and a squash cake.

Think you have skills? Head over to 611 E Pine. He's the guy wearing the Alpaca fur.

does this bell ring?

does this bell ring?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

I've probably seen it before, but today is the day I noticed this bell on the corner of Boylston and Howell. Has anyone ever heard it ring?

david schmaeder @ officenomads

david schmaeder @ officenomads, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you've picked up this week's stranger, you may have read David Schmaeder's Last Days column on Office Nomads. I can confirm (with photographic evidence) he didn't just phone it in. I even got a chance to try some of the very gatorade like Sport Beans he brought in for us all to try.

New HDTV channels.

RTN?, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you don't have cable, but are itching for TV, it looks like there are a couple new HDTV channels you can pick up with your rabbit ears on your new digital set.

13-2 has started broadcasting a 24 hour weather channel, complete with news ticker and live (ish) meteorologists (or maybe they just read the weather, who knows). It is more entertaining than the 5-2 24 hour weather, and features their super duper 5 pole doppler view.

7-2 has started stopped its part-time airport, part-time space needle webcam, and started pushing out RTN, a retro-television channel full of Mission Impossible and Perry Mason reruns. The Info button still says it's the airport, but here's one hibernator that hopes this change sticks.

I'm not sure if it is just the cold weather, or Canadaland is gearing up for the 2009 digital switch, but I just started picking up channel 12-1 too. I've heard the Daily Show is aired on this one, but I haven't been able to catch it yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If not, I hope they'll at least broadcast curling so I can start yelling SWEEP! at the television again.

The streets are all icy and the potholes are all frozen, here's one more excuse to stay inside.

Chelada!

budweiser and clamato, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

QFC weirds me out. Budweiser and Clamato.. Seriously?

Boylston Avenue's incarcerated park

fence, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

A long time ago (1992?), I lived in The Porter Apartments in a studio overlooking this grassy park and the SCCC parking garage. It wasn't really much of a park, and pretty much every day when I woke up, I would look out my window and there would be some destitute drunk peeing behind the steps of the garage, or sitting, drinking a bottle of thunderbird in a plain brown bag. It was kind of depressing, but it was life in the city.

As neighborhood parks go, it was a sad affair. There would be the occasional dog walker or napper mid-day, but it wasn't a place anyone spent much time. The best that could be said, is it was an accessible patch of grass that you could go stand in, a break from the concrete.

Now it is just a jailed lawn. I'm not sure when the fence went up, but every now and then I see a mattress, or a big pile of trash trapped behind the bars, doing it's time. Waiting for parole.

new bike rack!

new bike rack!, originally uploaded by Matt Westervelt.

If you ride your bike to Stumptown, Rudy's or the Capitol Hill pawn shop, you'll know that the bike rack is -always- full. Thanks to the City Bike Program, we've got another rail rack!

I've heard different stories on how long these take to install (they're done by the roads people and are low priority), but Stumptown says they called about this last week, and it's already in place. yay SDOT!