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.

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.

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.

A Cold Saturday in Georgetown

Your options are limited at 11 a.m. on a Saturday in Georgetown if you're hungry and not in the mood for breakfast or vegan food.

I wasn't sure if the Hangar Cafe would be serving lunch yet. And we were so hungry that we weren't sure if we could wait for any crepe people ahead of us to get served anyway.

Smarty Pants does its brunch menu until 3 p.m. Stellar's not open until 3. Georgetown Liquor Company's not open until 2.

I kind of wanted sushi and would have tried Daimonji, but they're not open until dinner on Saturdays.

However, Calamity Jane's and Jules Maes serve lunch at 11 on Saturdays. Since we went to Calamity Jane's on Monday, we went to Jules Maes today. The BLT and tomato basil soup were perfect.

It looked like Georgetown Tile Works was open, what with the beckoning clown out front and all, so we decided to go check that out.



First we passed a couple of closed storefronts.



Full Throttle Bottles should be opening soon.



We hung out quite a while in the tile and gift shop, wasting the owners' time chatting about leatherwork, Chris Crites, Chemical Wedding, tiles, belt buckles, outsider art, the east side of Beacon Hill, remodeling, and their new view from the shop. They can see the I-5 signs for Vancouver, Tacoma, and Portland now.



I love the tile they're making. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this before.



I think I like this even better.



And these metallic glazes remind me of Tau Ceramica's lovely Corten tile that we currently have in our bathroom. (I say "currently" because we already have some remodel plans drawn up, though we're not sure when they'll actually happen.)



We finally left the GTW folks alone so they could get some work done. I was too lazy and cold to cross the street like these other folks and get a closer look of the demolition.

Photos of the Stock House Demolition

Tonight at Calamity Jane's Pabst was sponsoring an art show and swag giveaway. I was just there for the all-you-can-eat spaghetti.





We ran into a friend, and a neighbor, and my brother-in-law and his fiancee.

After dinner and some free beer we checked out the demolition down the street.







Sabey's Jim Harmon, who seemed unfazed by the cold, pointed out the roof damage from a 1988 fire.



He said things are about on schedule and that the crew will be taking a day off tomorrow, though he'll still be there. I would have asked him some more questions, but I was fucking freezing out there.

Inside the warm confines of Jules Maes, I saw some dudes adding flowers to the fence.





Things will never be the same around here.

Misc. South End News

Decrepit building on its way out: The Paper Noose reports that the DPD has asked the owners of this old Georgetown building to fix it up pronto. Somehow I'm guessing it's going to end up getting torn down and rebuilt.



Call for submissions: The Paper Noose (whom I really should start calling by his new SEO-friendlier name, Blogging Georgetown) also reports that Georgetown's third annual Super 8 Film Festival is coming up. Your three-minute-long entry's due Feb. 6.

Sad news: After 60 years in business, Andy's Diner has closed.

Stock House Demolition Continues

I've been out of town, but I snapped a photo on Friday morning.




All lanes of Airport Way should be open again on Tuesday.

Concerns About the Stock House Replacement

I didn't go to the Georgetown Community Council meeting on Monday. I know that Holly Krejci would be totally welcoming, but I've still been reluctant to attend these meetings since I'm not a neighborhood resident. (But just now I took a look at their website, and I saw that "All residents or friends of the Georgetown neighborhood are encouraged to attend." OK, now I have no excuse.)

It sounds like the Paper Noose showed up, though, and he's provided a good account of what happened.

I haven't been down there since early Saturday morning, so I haven't seen the demolition so far. But apparently everyone has discovered that downtown Georgetown now has "a view of the interstate, as well as increased noise, normally buffered by three stories of brick."

Oh, yeah. I didn't even think of that.

Holly has summarized the community response about the demolition and building replacement in a letter to the Landmarks Board. I'm not surprised, but I am a little disappointed with the community's insistence on having Sabey's architects try to emulate the gorgeous 100-year-old buildings on Airport Way. I'm afraid that any Johnson Architects attempt at "classic and traditional ... brick" will end up looking less like the rest of Georgetown's Airport Way and more like Disneyland's Main Street, USA.



But Johnson's efforts at modern and industrial might have failed spectacularly as well. And, as I've said before, the community's opinions are worth more than mine. I'm sure if Sabey builds something that Georgetown is happy with, I'll be happy with it too.

From Holly's letter to the Landmarks Board:

1. With regard to the design of the new building, the community is overwhelmingly in favor of keeping with the classic and traditional design elements of the other buildings, including the brick and arches. We very much want a design that is compatible and complementary with the remaining buildings rather than something that is a radical departure and modern. Ultimately, we do not want to see something magical replaced with something ordinary.

2. With regard to setting the new building back, there was a simple majority in favor for the new building being set back 10 feet from the street. This will of course depend on the design of the new building and its ability to maintain continuity with the mass of the buildings as a whole.

3. With regard to the remaining portion of the stock house wall, the community is overwhelmingly in support of preserving the remaining portion of the wall to help maintain the continuity of the mass of the buildings and to protect the business district from additional industrial views.

For over a century, the mass and scope of the brick buildings, including the Stock House wall, has protected the Georgetown community from the freeway and the railroad. The buildings provided beauty in our gritty industrial area. And when the Stock House wall was partially removed, the view was that of the freeway and the railroad. It, in effect, added more industry to our already industrial-burdened community...

Always with the Exclamation Point, Please

Today I found out the name of this Georgetown car:



Monstero!

According to the owner:

Our giant skull car -- it's name is Monstero! (always with the
exclamation point, please, if you should need to write it somewhere).

Airport Way Open for the Rest of the Weekend

It was closed when I was there this morning, but it reopened at noon and will stay open for the rest of the weekend. It will be closed again next weekend.



From Sabey:

Hey all: Just to let you know, our work for the weekend was completed
this morning and Airport Way was re-opened at Noon for the rest of the
weekend. Our final closing of Airport Way will be next weekend. This
weekend's closure allowed folks to see what it will look at next
weekend.

Flat Tire in Georgetown

January in Seattle is glum. It's wet, it's cold, it's dark. It's an especially lousy time of year to get a flat tire and have to pull over into a pawn shop parking lot to deal with the spare.



Grr!



Since my web search on them comes up nil, I'm assuming that dairy no longer exists. Hope they didn't go out of business because of milk crate theft.



I like to think I could do this on my own if I ever had to. If we ever get a flat on a warm summer afternoon, maybe I'll volunteer to try to change the tire.



Beautiful Georgetown. So hip, so happening.



He's kneeling on a Goretex jacket I last wore in the 1990s. I figure it's a good thing to have stashed in the trunk.



Those are called lugnuts.





The first time either of us has even verified the existence of the spare.



Ta-da!

The Stock House Isn't Long for This World

This lovely view just isn't going to be the same with a new office building across the street.

City of Seattle NEWS RELEASE
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor

For immediate release
January 4, 2008

Contact: Alan Justad, DPD
206-295-1123 cell: 206-295-1123

Emergency Demo Approved for Hazardous Structure in Georgetown
Stock House, Portion of Rainier Cold Storage, Needs to Come Down

SEATTLE – The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has approved an emergency demolition permit for the Stock House, a part of the Rainier Cold Storage site in Georgetown. The emergency permit was approved due to the accelerating sinking of the structure.

The owner’s engineer, KPFF Consulting Engineers, has determined that the continuing structural deterioration of the Stock House has created a public safety hazard and that the building must be demolished as soon as possible. DPD engineers, after visiting the site and reviewing engineer reports, agree with this assessment. While the wall adjacent to the Stock House to the north is currently more stable, it is anticipated that a portion of that wall may also need to come down in order to demolish the Stock House safely. That portion of the demolition plan is still being prepared.

The site, at 5900 Airport Way South, is under review for a major re-development by the Sabey Corporation. The Stock House is a City of Seattle landmark as is the Rainier Cold Storage complex. In August 2007, the owners applied to the Landmarks Preservation Board seeking approval for the demolition of the Stock House. The Board and its Architectural Review Committee have been briefed over the past few months. Although the Board has not had the opportunity to act on the Certificate of Approval, the Board and the community have been aware of the tenuous condition of the structure.

The tentative plan is for Airport Way South adjacent to the structure to be closed the weekends of January 12-13 and January 19-21. Specific details are still under review.

Preparations for the demolition will start this weekend and the sidewalk in front of the structure has been closed.

Second Saturday Georgetown Art Walks Start February 9

Starting Saturday, February 9, Georgetown is finally going to have its own neighborhood art walk -- "Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack."

Georgetown graphic artist Mike Poetzel (whose works are now the best part of our living room) is designing the marketing materials for the launch. Fantagraphics dude Larry Reid is coordinating promotion. And Kathy Nyland dug up the funding to get this ball rolling.

More details from Larry Reid:

To participate in this monthly celebration of Georgetown's
creativity, simply [e-mail] your name (as you'd like it to appear in
marketing) and street address no later than Monday, January 7 to
Larry Reid at [studio9b -at- graffiti.net]. Marq Dean has already compiled this
information from most of you. We encourage participants to program
something distinctive for the February 9 launch, but all that's
required is your space be open to the public.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me, Shannon at
Georgetown Tile Works, Chad at Christoff Gallery, or Marq Dean at
Georgetown Records.

The Night Before Christmas in Georgetown

The Paper Noose wrote a Georgetown Christmas poem.

I hung out on Bainbridge Island and ate way too many cookies.

Beacon Hill News, Georgetown News

Beacon Hill: Amazon.com will be leaving Beacon Hill for South Lake Union. They'll be taking their dogs with them.

Georgetown: Hangar Cafe is now serving Stumptown Coffee, yum!

Year in Pictures in Review: Part 2 (August Through December)

AUGUST

My little neighborhood held its first block party.





I suspected Little & Lewis my have my very favorite private garden in the area.





I took a lot of evening walks.



And drank a lot of French white wine, sometimes in my handmade Rubaiyat shoes.







Our plum tree produced an abundance of fruit.





And I made many ginger plum crisps.



I started planting the rock wall with sedums and heathers.





I visited Ciscoe's yard toward the end of its glory.





And found some awesome porn in the attic.



SEPTEMBER

We went to the Bridge Motel party.













We found a sign in our attic.



And I watched this Joan Jett video a lot.



OCTOBER

I got a new camera!





I take more, better photos inside the Brew House.







And of course I did the Halloween tour of Georgetown.





NOVEMBER

I take a lot fewer photos when the days get short.

The Great Stuff antique shop in Georgetown.



Kubota Gardens.







DECEMBER

It snowed.



I ate a crepe at Hangar Cafe. I'm thinking about it still.



We went to the Georgetown Holiday Art Walk.



I got these.



And I think I might be just about done with photos for the year.