Pictures from South Orcas Street

This is my part of Beacon Hill.



I'm on my way to the bus stop.



Chain-link fence is ubiquitous down here.



I could roll down the hill to Seward Park.



But I won't. I'm taking the loathsome 36 to the Northwest Garden Show. See photos at my new plant blog.

Morning in Georgetown

I'm taking the day off today, to go to the garden show and just screw around. Started with breakfast in Georgetown.

Guess where I'm headed.



I finally meet Justin, who tells me about a Dine for Darfur event they're participating in on March 4. He hasn't created the menu yet, but if I find out what it is, I will tell you.

Celebrate Five Years of Manny's Pale Ale

Need an excuse to drink on Wednesday? Join the Georgetown Brewing crew in a toast to the fifth birthday of Manny's Pale Ale down at Jules Maes.

On February 27th, 2003 a group of friends and beer lovers gathered at the Latona Pub to drink the first keg of Manny's Pale Ale. Five years to the day and a few kegs later, we'll have a party of sorts at Jules Maes Saloon to celebrate our anniversary.

We'll get started about 7pm and probably be there all night. Please come raise a glass with us if you get the chance.

Rudeen's Been Cleaning Up the Christian Restoration Site

Rudeen responded very quickly to the report of trash buildup at the Christian Restoration Center. I sent my e-mail out Thursday night, and on Friday they had crews out there starting to clean the area up. They've been out there working on it this week as well.

They're working with Jon Hager of Hager Realty Services in the Eastlake area as the local contact for this project. He seems very nice and open to questions; his e-mail is jon at jhager.com, if you'd like to contact him directly. He's been discussing the project with passersby this week, so if you see people out there working, feel free to approach them.

As for the design of the project, he said this:

On the planning front, we have hired a local Seattle architect and the current concept for the property itself is to have retail on the street level, with condos above. There is also a landscaped atrium in the back for the residents, with a parking garage underneath the building.

I asked who the architect is and whether they plan to share conceptual drawings with the community soon. I've also asked about Jim Claeys, whom a longtime Beacon Hill resident named Dan Hagan has been discussing in comments on this post. According to different sources, Claeys is either the past or the present/future owner of this site. I have no idea; I just work here.

Corson Building Drive-By

Good to know I'm not he only one who's been peering past the metal fence into the Corson Building lot, like I last did back in December.



A Seattle magazine blogger reports that it looks like they're putting in a patio.

Anyone know when Via Tribunali's opening? Pizza pizza.

Red Apple Remodel in Beacon Lights

Craig Thompson at Beacon Lights has written about the Red Apple remodel.

A Trip to Flower World

This blog used to be mostly about gardening. Now it's mostly about the neighborhood, but I'll continue to throw in plant posts. I can't help myself.

On the way to Flower World we stopped at the Woodinville Taco Time.

A box of Mexi-fries basking in the sunshine. Sublime.



Flower World is big and nice. Everyone loves Flower World. so I don't need to say much about it. They have a lot of stuff, it's clean and tidy, and they grow 90% of what they sell. And they pipe out way too much harp music.



Heather.











Last year I did a lot of nursery browsing; now I can spot a baby Cryptomeria from 50 yards away.



Cryptomeria japonica 'cristata." I have five of these in my backyard. I'm not sure they're going to make it.



Oh, maybe this post is on theme after all. This cedar is called "Beacon Hill."









A sign warns of escaping turtles. My husband's on the lookout.













There's an iris farm next door.

Finding Beacon Hill Stories

On most days, I search the Seattle P-I and Seattle Times websites for "beacon hill," hoping to find all the news stories about our neighborhood. However, the reporters sometimes misidentify Beacon Hill (even its western edge) as "Rainier Valley," and more often they just don't even bother trying to identify the neighborhood and just call it "South Seattle."

Yesterday they pulled a new one, identifying an area east of Rainier Avenue as Beacon Hill.

The story is only credited to "staff," so I won't bother trying to get this corrected. But these reporting inaccuracies make it hard to try to find out what's really happened in our neighborhood over the years. Do they screw up this badly in other neighborhoods, or are local reporters particularly ignorant of areas south of I-90?

SE Seattle Pics at Good Taste Chronicles

Fellow Beacon Hill blogger Catalina Vel-DuRay has been going around Southeast Seattle snapping pictures of things that would already have been demolished in tonier parts of the city. Like the New Holly Safeway. And a cool-looking church that I believe is on Orcas in Hillman City, a little bit west of Rainier?

CvDR also posts YouTube clips that I would never have found otherwise. Like this.

It's Morning on Beacon Hill

The Letter I Sent to Rudeen About the Christian Restoration Center

I'm a resident of Seattle's Beacon Hill neighborhood, and I'm writing you first of all to express concern about the sad state of the property you'll be developing here in the summer at 4351 15th Avenue South. I've taken some photos to show you the extent of the damage.

1. There's a lot of graffiti. A lot.



2. There's also a broken toilet and empty liquor bottles.



3. There's garbage and broken glass scattered all over the place.



4. There's an overflowing garbage can that the local rats are probably enjoying, but the neighbors, not so much.



5. There are boxes full of (presumably dead) fluorescent blubs. These contain mercury and possibly lead. According to Seattle Municipal Code 21.36.025 (Unlawful Disposal), these bulbs cannot be taken to city transfer stations; you can read about proper disposal at this King County website.



Anyway, the Beacon Hill community would like you to please clean up your property as soon as possible. I know your company is headquartered in Spokane, and I understand how you might not be aware of the way things are going over here in Seattle. But I'm happy to provide you with photo reports whenever you like -- please just ask.

We'll also want to provide input as to the design of the new building. Apart from work that appears to be going on at the VA Hospital, this will definitely be the largest new construction on Beacon Hill in many years and will have a huge impact on the community. We look forward to working with you on this project! Have you planned any community meetings yet?

Please let me know as soon as possible about your plans for site cleanup. I've already reported the graffiti to the city just to get that in the system, and I'm so concerned about all the illegal dumping that I should report that as well. But I'd prefer to work directly with you on all this. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.

--JvA

Blog Tournament: Vote for Blogging Georgetown

First off, a huge thank you to everyone who voted for me. I know I ended up getting over 150 votes altogether, and I am honored and energized by your support.

I checked the blog tournament last night around 7:30, saw that Blogging Georgetown had taken the lead, and mentally conceded defeat to him. I was actually glad that it looked like I'd be taking a strong second place. I'm a huge fan of Blogging Georgetown, so I felt good about getting almost as many votes as he did. Besides, coming in second meant that I wouldn't feel like I needed to campaign anymore!

However, this morning I see that they advanced both of us to the next round, where we face Seattle Daily Photo. I understand that Metroblogging Georgetown wanted to give me the benefit of the doubt because of the problems that they had with their poll over the weekend. But I'm pretty sure Blogging Georgetown was on his way to victory last night, and that he deserved to win outright.

So, anyway, I would like to announce my support for Blogging Georgetown in this race. I'm going to vote for him, and you should too.

Even though it usually lacks photos (and occasionally humor), Blogging Georgetown is the best, and the most important, neighborhood blog by any non-professional blogger in Seattle. He covers not just Georgetown but the largely ignored areas of Seattle, like South Park and the rest of the Duwamish area. And he seems completely fearless about speaking plainly about things that others will only tiptoe around. I don't always agree with him, and his outspokenness can sometimes seem uncharitable, but I always admire his courage and frankness. And he's one of the few local writers whose 1,000-word screeds I will actually read all the way through.

So, again, thanks for your votes in the first round, but let's stop splitting the South End vote -- instead, let's get Blogging Georgetown into the next round.

Vote now for Blogging Georgetown!

Last Chance to Vote for This Blog

As you probably already know, I was recently nominated for Best Neighborhood Blog in a Metroblogging Seattle tournament.

Many of you voted for me (thank you!), and your votes--and everyone else's--were accidentally erased.

So I ask for your vote again, now that we're just about down to the last 24 hours for this round (and I actually have a chance of winning):

http://seattle.metblogs.com/archives/2008/02/blarch_badness_28.phtml

I know this contest is silly, but it's really gotten me excited about neighborhood blogging again. Over the last year, this blog has evolved from a personal/gardening blog into a blog that's really pretty focused on Beacon Hill and Georgetown.

And even though Beacon Hill and Georgetown already had some good political bloggers, I think what I'm doing here is worthwhile too. And I'd like to thank you again for supporting me.

Lead Paint Peeling Off in Sheets at Van Asselt Elementary

Saturday's caucus at Van Asselt was the first time I'd ever been inside a school on Beacon Hill. I was thinking it looked pretty shabby, but it sounds like the situation is worse than I thought.

From Sunday's Seattle Times:

And while district officials say health and safety issues are always a priority, just last week lead-based paint was flaking onto the playground at Van Asselt Elementary School — a problem the district identified 10 years ago. ... Tests have shown the paint contains up to 30 percent lead, well above the federal standard of 0.06 percent.

According to the story, district spokesman David Tucker said that lead paint is common on old buildings and isn't a problem until it begins to peel.

Yeah, well...



The school district is claiming to have fixed some of the problems at Van Asselt already:

Over the past several years at Van Asselt, the district has replaced the roof and flooring and fixed windows and broken bathroom-door locks. But it hasn't blocked access to the roof, which has been subject to vandalism, and tetherball poles on the playground are in bad shape.

But from first-hand experience three days ago, I can say that the bathroom door locks are not fixed.

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Like this post? Please, please vote for me in the Metroblogging Seattle "Best Neighborhood Blog" tournament.

No One Hurt in Drive-By Shooting in South Beacon Hill

From the P-I:

Seattle police are looking for an older white van seen driving away from the scene of a drive-by shooting early Monday.

The shooting in the 5100 block of South Augusta Street near Beacon Avenue South was reported just past 8 a.m., police spokeswoman Renee Witt said.

The caller reported that it appeared two shots were fired at a house on that block. No one was hurt in the shooting and police had no suspects in the case.

First Georgetown Art Attack

I spent most of the evening at a birthday party (where three of the celebrants were brand-new Obama delgates and two were alternates) at Calamity Jane's last night, so I didn't have time to attack much art. But I did take a few pictures.

I ran into George before the party, and Kathy and Holly helped me dress up my cool last-minute gift of a cute apron for the birthday girl. (Thank you, thank you.)

Sarah at CJ's let us eat cake.



It was too loud to follow this performance very closely, but I think it depicted a witch trial involving cannibalism and the sexual abuse of a couple of German children. Cute!



I'd hoped to meet Erika of Full Throttle Bottles, even though I was two hours late to the belly-dancing performance she'd told me about. So we headed that way.



I saw her car (or, at least, a car with her name on it parked right outside her shop), but the place was locked up. Another time...

We dropped in Georgetown Tile Works, where I did not recognize Amie from Friends of Georgetown History because I'm kind of dumb that way, and besides, I'd never met her out of costume before.



On our way back to the car, we got pulled into Lucky's Choppers ("Psst. Hey. Do you guys like guitars? Come check this out.") to see this guy's amazing handmade guitars.



He ran out of cards so I don't know his name, but I'm sure some of you do.

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Prefer blurry photos from a G-town wannabe to thoughtful, provocative commentary from someone who actually lives there? I thought so! Vote for me at Metroblogging Seattle, if their poll is working.

New Hardscaping at a Beacon Hill House

My mother-in-law asked for a photo of my brother-in-law's lovely new retaining wall and landscaping. Since it's on Beacon Hill, it's topical enough to post here.

Another Beacon Hill Man in the News

From today's P-I:

A Beacon Hill man who admitted filming eight women in the Cinerama movie theater restroom won't serve any time in jail, a King County Superior Court judge ruled Friday.

As part of a plea agreement, Philip Michael Thomas was sentenced to 30 days of community service and required to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to one count of voyeurism, a felony. Thomas, 21, is also required to undergo a sexual deviancy screening and may have to undergo therapy.

Thomas was arrested Aug. 11 after a patron discovered a video camera planted in a women's restroom at the downtown Seattle theater. While reviewing the recording, officers discovered that Thomas had inadvertently videotaped himself while setting up the camera.

According to court documents, police found recordings of eight women, as well as images of another woman at her home.

After his arrest, Thomas told police he set up the camera in a single-stall women's room because "he knew that he wasn't going to film any kids," according to police statements.

At sentencing, Thomas apologized for his crime.

"This was a very dumb mistake," Thomas told Judge Chris Washington. "I'm deeply sorry for what I did."

Three Hours of Vintage MTV

Boing Boing reports that a dude in Belgium has posted three hours of MTV from 1983.

If you were to sit at your computer and watch all three hours, here's what you would find.

Night Ranger - Don't Tell Me You Love Me
Huey Lewis - Heart and Soul
The Tubes - Monkey Time
Prince - Little Red Corvette
George Thorogood - Bad to the Bone
Police - Synchronicity II
Sammy Hagar - Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy
Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner
Kansas - Fight Fore with Fire
Michael Bolton - Fool's Game
Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize

"October 29th in Alabama is Lionel Richie Day, as proclaimed by Gov. George Wallace"

Bow Wow Wow - Do You Wanna Hold Me?
The Who - You Better You Bet
The Motels - Suddenly Last Summer
Madness - Our House
Nick Heyward - Whistle Down the Wind
ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man
Garland Jeffreys - 96 Tears
Stevie Nicks - If ANyone Falls
Elton John - I'm Still Standing
Thompson Twins - Lies
Billy Idol - Dancing with Myself
Men at Work - It's a Mistake
Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson - Say Say Say

"because coffee lets you calm yourself down... join the coffee achievers"

Quarterflash - Take Another Picture
David Bowie - Modern Love
Billy Quier - Lonely Is the Night
INXS - The One Thing
The Romantics - Talking in Your Sleep
Jefferson Starship - Be My Lady
Robert Plant - Burning Down One Side
Talking Heads - Burning Down the House
Split Enz - One Step Ahead
The Fixx - Red Skies
The Pretenders - Back on the Chain Gang
Joe Walsh - I Can Play That Rock & Roll