New Belgium Brewing’s Clips Beer and Film Tour returns to Gas Works Park this Friday, July 25th:

New Belgium Brewing’s annual Clips Beer & Film Tour is hitting the road again, making its ninth stop of the 2014 tour in Seattle, Wash. on July 25. The event will take place in Gas Works Park from 8:00-11:00 p.m., with the films starting once dark descends. This beer-toting, film-traveling, nonprofit-benefiting show is going coast-to-coast hitting 21 cities in its fifth year. The best part is that 100 percent of the proceeds from beer sales benefit local nonprofits working to improve communities nationwide. Since its inception in 2010, Clips has raised close to $370,000 for nonprofits nationwide and raised $9,348 in Seattle last year. Since this is a fundraiser, outside alcohol is not permitted.Clips offers a venue where guests can try New Belgium’s most esoteric beer offerings, while watching short films created by New Belgium fans. Many of New Belgium’s Lips of Faith beers can be hard to come by and Clips offers the best way to try them. Up to 17 varieties from Lips of Faith to brewery classics will be on tap.

New Belgium beers will be available in 3-ounce samples or a 12-ounce pour. Served up by local beneficiary volunteers, there’s plenty of fun to be had alongside a host of traveling tricks and contests. KEXP’s very own DJ Greg Vandy will be there spinning some warm summer vibes and food from The Sammich Truck, Evolution Revolution, and Hallava Falafel will be available.  
 
New Belgium selects approximately 20 short films for the tour each season. All selected filmmakers for the 2014 tour receive a trophy-worthy beer in a custom screen-printed bottle, made exclusively for the winning submissions. This year, the chosen films include a banana with an attitude, ultra marathoners running with stubborn animals, neon spandex, and much, much more! It’s a diverse and highly entertaining line-up with something for everyone.

Admission is free, children and leashed dogs are welcome (children may not drink beer, dogs may) and you are welcome to bring a picnic dinner (but no outside alcohol).  

(Photo taken in Kansas City, so, ya know, that’s not Gas Works.)

I have a love affair with Little Free Libraries. To the point that my children now try to distract me whenever we walk near one (“Look Mom! Over there!”). Despite my offsprings’ best efforts, I have located three more nearby LFLs since I last wrote about them (see below).

Apparently I am not alone in my book lust, as Little Free Libraries are riding a wave of popularity that has crossed the globe. And now, the local architect/ humanitarians at Architects Without Borders bring us Libraries on the Loose, an LFL design contest with the ultimate goal of making LFLs even more accessible to homeowners, community groups and businesses through good, affordable and replicable LFL design. The contest has the added benefit of raising funds for some inspirational architecture projects such as the building of schools in developing nations.

New projects and existing LFLs are eligible for the contest, which will consider such components as affordability, replicability, adaptability and creativity. The LFLs will actually be installed as part of the contest. Interested parties need to register their intent to participate by August 1st, and submit by August  27th. Entries will be part of the Seattle Design Festival on September 6-7 and 13-14th.

You can get inspired by visiting your local LFL today! The fun but difficult to search LFL official map has thousands of LFLs listed, but as I have found from walking the neighborhood, most of our local LFLs aren’t on it. The following list of Wallingford’s Little Free Libraries was generated by reader contributions. If you know of an LFL that should be on this list, please let us know!

• 3634 Woodlawn Ave N
• Southwest corner of 39th and Burke
• Bagley Ave. N between 36th and 37th
• N 38th between Bagley and Corliss
• Bagley just north of 41st
• 4111 Midvale
• 1200 N 44th Street
• N 43rd, a few houses east of Corliss
• Densmore N. at the top of the 4300 block
• 4550 Thackeray
• 1815 N 47th St
• 5420 Kirkwood
• 53rd and Wallingford
• Northwest corner of Latona and 51st
• 5738 Ashworth N
• 1831 North 57th St.
• 6110 Latona

The neighborhood fruit trees are having a great year so far. They’ve produced bumper crops of cherries, yellow transparent apples, and are now into plums.

Did you know there are 40 fruit trees along the Burke-Gilman Trail between the University Bridge and Northlake Place, west of Gas Works? Come and see a group of them on Sunday.

City Fruit, a local non-profit which harvests fruit from private trees throughout the city, also takes care of fruit trees in 11 public Seattle parks, two of which are in Wallingford: Meridian Playground and this southerly section of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

On Sunday, July 20, City Fruit staff will lead a work party at a site with one pear and ten apple trees on the north side of the Burke-Gilman, just east of where the Trail intersects with 7th Ave NE (that’s the crazy five-way intersection with Pacific and upper and lower 40th.) Look for our blue canopy from noon to 3 pm.

We’ll be cutting and digging different kinds of weeds, making wooden props for one tree we call the “Burke-Gilman Red,” and doing summer pruning. Gloves, tools, water, and snacks will be provided. Wear closed-toe shoes and socks, and long pants and sleeves if you choose to tangle with blackberries (your choice.) Or, wear whatever you want and just stop by and say hi!

First time volunteering with City Fruit? Sign up on our volunteer page.

Interested in nearby fruit and tree-related classes, work parties, and other events? Check out the City Fruit calendar.

And if you need help harvesting surplus fruit on your trees at home, email Luke, the City Fruit harvest coordinator:  [email protected]

Considering using (or using more!) Public Transportation this summer? With all of the summer construction projects on our local highways and byways, letting someone else do the driving sounds like a good idea.

Come to Wallingford Community Senior Center on Tuesday, July 22nd between the hours of 11 AM – 1PM to get your ORCA card and learn more about the transportation services King County Metro provides.

Representatives from King County Metro will be on hand with their “ORCA-TO-GO” card printing machine, so you can get your card printed or re-filled while you’re here!

The ORCA information session will be taking place during our Community Lunch, so come hungry and get lunch while your ORCA card is being printed! Community Lunch is open to all and is served on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays here at WCSC!

Following lunch, we’ll be featuring one of our “Happy Hour” programs from 1:30-2:30. This Tuesday, get more flexible with Gentle NIA presented by NIA instructor Sherry Riddick.  NIA is a fun, expressive, no-impact workout that combines martial arts, dance, and yoga – no experience is necessary!

Learn more about these and other inter-generational programs offered by Wallingford Community Senior Center by visiting our website.

Hope to see you at WCSC soon!

Wallingford Night At the Meaningful Movies (5019 Keystone Place N. (1 blk east of Meridian Ave N & ½ blk north of N. 50^th St) is back this Friday with “The Next American Revolution”:

Wallingford Meaningful Movies:  AN EVENING EXAMINING THE GROWING WORKER-OWNED COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES …A Viable Economic Model?

Please join us Friday, July 18^th at 7PM for this fascinating film, an eminent panel discussion and a community conversation exploring new alternatives for our economic and cultural future.

Film: “THE NEXT AMERICAN REVLOUTION”, Gar Alperovitz: Beyond Corporate Capitalism and State Socialism

In partnership with S.L.I.C.E. and Central Co-op: A PANEL DISCUSSION, Q&A AND COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ON THE FUTURE OF WORKER-OWNED COOPERATIVES with: ALISON BOOTH from Equal Exchange, S.L.I.C.E. (Strengthening Local Independent Co-ops Everywhere), & D.A.W.N. (Democracy At Work Network), MARK DWORKIN, filmmaker of “SHIFT CHANGE” on the worker-owned cooperative movement and SCOTT DAVIS from Black Coffee Co-op

While there’s been no shortage of commentary about the structural crisis plaguing the American economic and political system, from wage stagnation and chronic unemployment to unchecked corporate and state power and growing inequality, analyses that offer practical, politically viable solutions to these problems have been few and far between.

Pointing to efforts already under way in thousands of communities across the U.S., from co-ops and community land trusts to municipal, state, and federal initiatives that promote entrepreneurship and sustainability, Alperovitz marshals years of research to show how bottom-up strategies can work to check monopolistic corporate power, democratize wealth, and empower communities. The result is a highly accessible look at the current economy and a common-sense roadmap for building a system more in sync with American values.   (47 min, Sut Jhally, 2013)

To add depth to the discussion, we will be posting articles and information this week related to co-ops on our Facebook page:

Plans continue to develop to enhance and expand the Fremont Troll. The latest concept includes a P-Patch Community Garden. Want a say in how it turns out? Attend tonight’s design review!

Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Department of Neighborhoods and Harrison Design invite the community to the second meeting on Troll’s Knoll Park on Wednesday, July 16, 2014 from 6:30 – 7:45 p.m. at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center, 4272 Fremont Ave. N.

At this public meeting, participants can learn about the new community-initiated park project at the Fremont Troll and see how public input guided the schematic design. It is an opportunity to review the design and provide additional input. The Parks and Green Spaces Levy Opportunity Fund project is located in the right-of-way at the north end of the Aurora Avenue Bridge between 808 N 36^th St and 916 N 36^thSt.

The goal of the park project is to utilize existing public land to create a new park in the heart of Fremont. The park will be a model design of a sustainable park space. It will include a P-Patch community garden and provide a critical pedestrian link to the developing neighborhood business district in northern Fremont.

For community members interested in learning more about the P-Patch program, please contact Rich MacDonald 206-386-0088 or[email protected].

For more information about the project including notes from the first meeting please visit:

http://www.seattle.gov/parks/projects/troll_knoll/. For special meeting accommodations or for questions concerning the project please contact Jeron Gates at 206-684-0998 or [email protected].

(This review of the The Flower of England’s Face, now showing at the UW Penthouse Theatre, was written by Seth Halleran of the UW News Lab)

Clockwise from left: Andrew McGinn as John Falstaff, Christine Marie Brown as Hotspur, Tony Pasqualini as King Henry IV, and Reginald André Jackson as Prince Henry of Monmouth (Photo by Daniel Morris)

He cranes his arm back then flicks it forward, launching his whip, snapping through the air near inches from his foe.

The Earl of Douglas, leader of the Scottish rebels, pulls his whip back again, this time using it to snatch King Henry IV’s wooden sword from the ground at his feet.

Though he lacks a kilt, the Earl instead wears a tartan patterned sash and headband, wielding a long wooden pole in addition to his whip, like some kind of tattooed Scottish ninja.

Adapted by Reginald André Jackson and directed by Robin Lynn Smith, Freehold Theatre’s The Flower of England’s Face places the Shakespearean classic, Henry IV, in the mid-20th Century.

With leather bomber jackets, black cloaks, gypsy dresses, rasta beanies, and royalty style army uniforms, this eccentric adaptation is at risk to clash with itself.

Splendidly, it doesn’t.

The intimate, interactive theater experience feels a bit like what Quentin Tarantino might do with an Indiana Jones script written in Shakespearean prose.

The set consists of a metal catwalk, some wooden blocks, a set of wooden stairs (built into the seats), and a large purple, gold, and turquoise tapestry on the ground.

All of this is placed in the University of Washington’s Penthouse Theater, the first theater-in-the-round built in the United States.

Henry IV is generally split into 3 parts: Richard II, and Henry IV parts 1 and 2.

“Rather than only staging Shakespeare’s part 1, we opted to explore the full arc of many of these characters, which meant also delving into part 2,” says Jackson. “But what truly got my blood flowing was the idea of exploring Richard II, as well.“

The play opens with a crowd of men and women in long black cloaks, some sporting red scimitar blades at their sides. The snared beating of a cajón drum accompanies them as they fan out across the stage, remaining stiff.

We are introduced to the characters of Prince Henry of Monmouth (a.k.a Hal or Harry) heir to the English throne and John “Jack” Falstaff ringleader of those that frequent the Boar’s Head Tavern.

“There’s this range of characters from every class and every age,” says Smith, “and I think it’s kind of brilliantly laid out by Shakespeare in terms of trying to figure out who you are in the middle of an uncertain situation.”

The audience accompanies these two as they are thrust into a civil war, caused by King Henry IV’s murder of Richard II, who later comes back to haunt the tormented King.

Much of the backstory included in Richard II is seen in flashbacks playfully presented on a projector.

Those worried about keeping track of the plethora of characters need not worry. Audiences can pick up a study guide along with a program, featuring a character list and background information to help set the stage.

This study guide, produced by Lucinda Stroud, comes as a feature of Freehold’s Engaged Theatre Program which has taken the performance to a variety of places in the Seattle area, including prisons and psychiatric hospitals.

The score, composed and performed by Gino Yevdjevich, is also about variety.

In one scene there’s wailing, Middle Eastern inspired vocals and in the next there’s spaghetti western guitar picking.

“Shakespeare’s so cool because you can really do whatever you want with it musically,” says Yevdjevich.

And when you realize that Shakespearean prose accompanied by jazz bongos sounds eerily like spoken word, you see that he’s right.

Cast across race and gender lines, the play features at least one female actress playing a male character in an ironic salute to the castrato actors of yore.

Many scenes involve a good deal of interactivity. In one scene I was offered a ring to purchase. In another, I was given the pleasure of shaking the newly crowned King’s hand.

Shakespeare wrote for the common man. This performance is a testament to that. It’s humble and weird. Uproariously hilarious at points, touchingly sincere at others.

“There’s a kernel of something that’s trying to be more true in these people,” says Smith, “and that’s a wonderful core to the population that Shakespeare wrote about.”

Freehold’s The Flower of England’s Face plays July 12th – 20th at the University of Washington’s Penthouse Theater. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can and can be purchased online or at the door.