White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Big Brother Big Sister is having their “Big Night Out” Today.  Full Tilt is donating 30% of the days till to them. So are a number of other businesses in the area. Follow the link below to find some place that interests you.

http://www.bbbs.org/site/lookup.asp?c=guLUJbMRKtH&b=4696831

Many of the businesses will have represententive from Big Brother on hand to answer any questions that you may have.

From the White Center Now Events Calendar: After several weeks in “soft launch” mode, the White Center Swap Meet and Flea Market (in the remodeled ex-skating-rink building) celebrates its official “grand opening” this weekend, with hours changing to better accommodate early shoppers and sellers: It’ll now be open 8:30 am-4:30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays.

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What he had to say was almost as intriguing as what he had to play; maybe that’s why the show listing called it “White Center Weird Fest.” That’s Calvin Johnson, Saturday night at Full Tilt Ice Cream.

On December 2nd Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound are hosting Big Night Out, a fundraiser for the orginization taking place at area retailers, restaurants, bars, and bowling alleys. Full Tilt will be hosting an event that night for Big Brothers Big Sisters, but in the meantime they are looking for some local help.

Lamonte’ needs a big brother. If you can help, please contact Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound today at 877-700-BIGS or www.bbbsps.org.

“I want a Big Brother to hang out with, have fun, and learn how to play sports with.”

– 7 year old Lamonté

Lamonté is an outgoing, energetic 7 year old who lives in White Center with his mom. Because he does not have any siblings or a father figure in his life, Lamonté’s mom is looking to find a good role model for her son through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound. Lamonté loves sports, and he says that he is looking forward to learning how to play sports and going to sports games with his Big Brother. Lamonté is also interested in animals, computers, art, and music. When he signed up to become a Little Brother, Lamonté said, “I want to see how it feels to have a Big Brother.” Lamonté’s mom says that she knows it’s hard for her son to grow up without a dad or siblings, and she wants someone in his life that he can look up in addition to her. If you have a few hours on the weekends to hang out, play catch, or go to the zoo with a local child like Lamonté, please contact Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound today at 877-700-BIGS or www.bbbsps.org.

Now that the Greenbridge library branch is open, its events calendar is online – looks like kids’ story time, Thursday nights at 7 pm, is the big plan for now. Meantime, there’s a video clip we didn’t get around adding to our original coverage of Wednesday’s ribboncutting: a wonderful speech by King County’s Poet Laureate, Dr. Mona Lake Jones. Here’s the entire six minutes:

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There is an interesting theory making the rounds in financial circles.  The thinking is that the more Starbucks locations a place has is correlated to the degree of financial distress.  The correlation is not with coffee, as countries with venerable coffee house traditions, Italy and Brazil, have not been hit as hard by the financial meltdown.  According to Daniel Gross, the author of the Starbucks theory:

My tentative theory: having a significant Starbucks’ presence is a pretty significant indicator of the degree of connectedness to the form of highly caffeinated, free-spending capitalism that got us into this mess. It’s also a sign of a culture’s willingness to abandon traditional norms and ways of doing business (virtually all the countries in which Starbucks has established beachheads have their own venerable coffeehouse traditions) in favor of fast-moving American ones. The fact that the company or its local licensee felt there was room for dozens of outlets where consumers would pony up lots of euros, liras and rials for expensive drinks, is also a pretty good indicator that excessive financial optimism had entered the bloodstream.

The theory has some appeal for independent coffee houses, such as Cafe Rozella.   Unlike Starbucks, you will find few independent coffee houses in the lobbies of financial skyscrapers.   But, there is an interesting backdrop to this theory and White Center.

Sometime back, while White Center struggled to right itself financially, a play was made to get Starbucks to open up a location in the heart of White Center.  In fact, the Walgreens Superstore at 16th and Roxbury contains the appended building designed to lure Starbucks to the neighborhood.   Starbucks corporate staff studied the area and decided that there simply weren’t enough greenbacks floating around to justify a store in the area.  We, at Cafe Rozella, only became aware of the Starbucks machinations after launching our coffee house.  Had Starbucks opened a corporate coffee house in the middle of White Center would it had speeded up gentrification?  Would it have driven up home values to unrealistic heights only to see them crash with the real estate bubble?  Certainly, it appears that White Center and its surrounding environs have mostly been spared the overvalued real estate crisis overtaking the rest of Seattle.  Perhaps we should be thankful that Starbucks took a pass on WC and drink a toast to Cafe Rozella.

We dropped by Full Tilt Ice Cream shortly after this afternoon’s pre-Halloween party started (note the clock over the cones), and the place was already jammed. Appropriately enough for a place with pinball and game machines, Pac-Man made an appearance:

Musical entertainment was courtesy of the Not-Its:

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We’re still looking for White Center Halloween activities to add to the events calendar – if you know of one coming up between now and The Big Day/Night, please e-mail us, whitecenternow@gmail.com – thanks!

Inside the “Log Cabin” at Steve Cox Memorial Park, you can take kids to enjoy a Halloween Carnival this afternoon – 2 to 5 pm, with a free magic show at 4! (Thanks to MargL for the tip.)

Just over the line from White Center, the Highland Park Improvement Club is planning a Dia de los Muertos bash November 1st, and everyone’s invited. See the flyer here.

Another reminder, 5 days till the White Center Food Bank‘s annual Harvest Dinner and Auction this Saturday @ SSCC – but don’t wait to make a reservation – call or e-mail now. 206/762-2848, rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org – see the full invitation here!

tonight is the Official openign for the Dluks Crew art show hanging at Full Tilt.
myspace. com/DLUKS3CREW

The party begins at 8pm with an acoustic performance by sickeversence. The Dluks Crew is an all female artists collective, and they are looking for memebers. Here is the email they are sending out.

We are looking for Members to join our new group,

Here is information on us and what we do:

We are the Dluks Crew (all female) based out of Seattle,WA

myspace. com/dluks3crew (add us on your myspace!)

(There are not many all girl “crews” in the world so here we are…
we are currently seeking members so if your a female writer,urban photographer
or painter and
would like to join our actual crew,
contact us and we’ll let you know the details!)

We are available for:
• Artwork/graphic design for Clothing
• Custom artwork
• Illustrated logos
• Editorial illustration for print media
• Advertising illustration
• Book jackets
• CD art
• Poster illustration
• Murals / Public art Guerilla Art Marketing

Check out our main founders photos and websites to see our work!

There may not have been a lot of vendors, but the ones that were there were great! And they’ll be back tomorrow. Check out my new work shoes, only $15!

Ok, so I promised sometime back to do a rundown of all the great places where you can get a Vietnamese Sandwich, which, next to Ramen, is the poor student’s sustenance.  There are as many Vietnamese Sandwich shops, as there are Pho shops and Asian markets, in White Center – which is to say alot.  So, rather than run down the list, I will share my personal favorite.  For my money, the tastiest Vietnamese Sandwich is, without hesitation, served at Banh 88.  The meat is always excellent, the dressings are fresh and the bread is always toasty fresh.  Load up some Vietnamese garlic hot sauce and you have a piece of heaven for a mere $2.75.  My personal favorite is the barbeque pork sandwich but all the sandwiches, including chicken, beef and vegetarian fare are excellent.  Nikki, the amiable proprietor, is an excellent cook and demands nothing less of her staff.  I have never been disappointed with any meal from Banh 88.  

I must add that besides the Vietnamese Sandwiches, Banh 88 does a full array of great Vietnamese salads, curries and noodle dishes.  This is the place to go with a crowd of people and try everything on the menu.  The curry dishes are likely the best in Seattle.  You can find Banh 88 at 9418 Delridge Way SW (98106), phone 206.768.9767, it is located just south of where Delridge and 17th Ave. SW diverge.  Hours are 11 am to 8:00 p.m.

That said, I invite cognerati to comment on their favorite White Center Sandwich Shop.  

Disclosure, I was a Blue Bird, which is what a young Camp Fire member used to be called, back when dinosaurs walked the earth. So I’ve got nostalgic warmth for the Camp Fire USA organization, which was Camp Fire Girls way back then, but welcomes boys as well as girls these days. Here’s the announcement that registration is under way in our area: Read the rest of this entry »

Dreaming of a future White Center Farmers’ Market is part of what the PARKing Day “park” is all about. Till 3 pm, you can see the “park” set up by White Center Community Development Association and Technology Access Foundation — with that banner, some greenery, fresh produce, and of course, technology — in the parking spaces by Full Tilt Ice Cream on 16th SW, west side of the street, a short ways south of Roxbury. Staffing the “park” when we stopped by a short time ago — WCCDA’s Sopha Danh and TAF’s Richard Brown:

TAF is also promoting its free TechStart classes – all listed on this handy white board at today’s “park”:

PARKing Day is happening nationwide – with people setting up temporary “parks” like this one to remind us that urban greenspace is vital to healthy, happy city living (among other things!).

REPTET brings their award-winning and energetic jazz to Rozella.

Friday September 12th at 7 p.m.

Reptet is a sextet consisting of six multi-instrumentalists all of whom are members of the internationally acclaimed Monktail Creative Music Concern based out of Seattle, WA. They have established themselves as a group of considerable excitement, flair and vision while simultaneously debunking preconceived notions of what a jazz group ought to be. Their music has been aired on radio stations across the United States and Europe, and their members have toured internationally. The arts organization Earshot Jazz has described them as, “A hot progressive combo of Seattle’s best young players. Their music is intense, taut, and fresh.” With the release of their second full length CD Do This!, Reptet has established themselves as an irrepressible force in modern jazz.

Press Quotes
“This Seattle sextet does it all: it grooves, it rocks, it squawks – occasionally, it even talks. Mostly, it sounds like a New Orleans jazz band on crystal meth.” ~Alex Gelfand’s Critics pick for the best release of 2006, Jazziz Magazine~

“Trumpeter Samantha Boshnack’s open voicings, jaunty tempos and buoyant timbral mixes for two winds and two brass have a friendly monster feel that conjures a bittersweet and elegiac mood of orchestral grandeur.” ~Downbeat~

“A juggernaut jazz band, arresting, compelling, and just plain cranked-up. Do This! is one of the most convincing albums of the last several years from Seattle jazz players.” ~Earshot Jazz~

Yeah, we don’t normally do midweek shows but this one is going to be amazing. Fatigo from Phoenix is a Latin/Americana freakout. Oh Man is the local support on this bill. They are a delightful dance explosion.

Ohman
http://www. myspace. com/ohmanthatisawesome

Fatigo
http://www.myspace. com/fatigo

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Clouds? Drizzle? Breeze? Not on the patio at Cafe Rozella tonight, where the Brazilian music of Eduardo Mendonca transported listeners to a more tropical place, or at least mood. In case you couldn’t be there, we’ve provided a minute and half of it in our video clip above; next Friday night Charanga Danzon performs at the cafe, and there’s live music tomorrow night at Full Tilt Ice Cream, with Talbot Tagora.

Michelle Smith-Lewis’ photos of vintage signs from Seattle will be showing for the month of Sept. Artists reception is at 8pm this Friday the 29th of August. 9629 16th Ave sw Rat City, wa 206-767-4811

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As promised in our earlier post about tonight’s live music at Cafe Rozella, here’s a quick sampler of the show that followed, a couple blocks south at Full Tilt Ice Cream. This was a CD-release party for Centaur Hearts, with Arbitron and One Million Teeth also on the bill – we showed up as the night began, so OMT is who you see in our video clip. Tomorrow (Saturday) night – more live tunes at Full Tilt – which proprietor Justin says got shoutouts from KEXP and the Stranger.