I grew up in the American Southwest, so you’d think I’d have memorized the story of Cinco de Mayo by now. But like many, I’ve fallen victim to the blight of the Internet, i.e., a complete lack of short-term memory, facilitated by repeated exposure to high doses of Google and Wikipedia (and symptomatically treated with the hair of the same dog). I know there are others like me out there, so if you want to know more about the origins of…
In keeping with a 40 year tradition, the Wallingford Community Council will be meeting tonight from 7 to 9 in the Good Shepherd Center in room 202. We would have met on Sundays but the nuns didn't want us working then. Tonight's meeting will focus on the dump (of course) and bike projects in Wallingford. Virgina Coffman from SDOT will be talking about bike plans in the neighborhood that will impact Latona and Thackeray, and will give an update on the…
Wired Magazine's April 28 issue includes a profile of Wallingford's wacky, wonderful retailer Archie McPhee and owner Mark Pahlow, who founded the store in 1983. Wired's columnist Dylan Tweney describes his visit to the store, located in "Seattle's earnestly funky neighborhood," and mentions Pahlow's memoir, Who Would Buy This? which includes stories of how Archie McPhee once ran into trouble with the Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Some other interesting Archie McPhee facts…
Craving a closer relationship with this elusive object, I recently picked up Richard Cohen's Chasing the Sun: The Epic Story of the Star That Gives Us Life. It explains how life on earth depends on the ability of green plants to harness the energy of the sun, thus making almost all other living things plant parasites (the only exception being deep-sea life near thermal vents but this still requires oxygen created by plants on the surface and you don't want to…
We never gave a proper welcome for our newest Wallyhood sponsor, Bandolero (2253 N 56th St), so the week of Cinco de Mayo seems like a proper time to do it. After all, this is the bar with over sixty different types of tequila to choose from. On St. Patrick's Day, go to Murphy's. On Cinco de Mayo, make it Bandolero. Doors open at noon on Thursday, they'll be turning their deck into a Margarita and Beer Garden and featuring The…
A week or so ago, we spotted this cut-out on telephone poles going up 40th from the U District. We asked the Twitterverse what was up: Seen these popping up along 40th in Wallingford. Who knows the story? http://t.co/lYW7Y7z But heard few clues back: Sarah said she'd seen similar signs around Green Lake, but without the hair, but that was it. Fast forward to this past Thursday evening, which found us at the Fred Wildlife Refuge on Capitol Hill for the City…
We're a bit tardy with our What in the Wallingford contest this week...we skipped it altogether last week. We wanted to wait until we could tell you more than just what the answer was, but the backstory. The photo from the contest is at left, a backed up version at right: This tree of bird houses in the front yard of the Hudgins house at 4210 Burke. We're told that Mrs. Hudgins always had a sweet spot for bird houses, so…