Music in Pictures

As evidenced by my pictures from the Raconteurs show, rock shows are hard to photograph unless you are right up close.

Luckily, there was more going on at Tuesday’s Yelle show at The War Room than just fun French pop. The Brunswicks delighted in tormenting a passed out man whose reserved booth we pilfered, with hilarious results.

I had a great time at Yelle for not knowing most of the songs and not being able to understand any of the words apart from “garcon” and “merci bouquet”. Naturally, she spoke with a cute French accent, which, for some reason sounded a little fake. Especially when she said things like “Do you know how to zsnap your fingeaurs?”. She also smacked the hell out of her giant drum. It was pretty enthralling.

The crowd was pretty eclectic, but it did have the overwhelming feeling of being in an American Apparel showroom. SO MANY T-SHIRT DRESSES AND BELTS!

If you’ve never heard of Yelle, check out her retro-tastic video for his biggest hit which she played twice.

I know I don’t normally like dance music, since I am such an atrocious dancer. But I definitely had fun shaking my uncoordinated tush to Yelle.

April 25, 2008
Categories: Dear Diary, Picture Pages, Seattle, The Soundtrack . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

Name Your Price, My Good Man

On Saturday, B. and I attended a birthday party/engagement party in the back room at the Spitfire Grill in Belltown. Even though it’s a sports bar, I have always loved the art in that place. They have this amazing ginormous painting of a dead sparrow, killed by an arrow to the heart, is being eulogized by anthropomorphic insects and other birds. It’s fascinating.

Anyway, I’d never been in the back room, but there was more interesting art back there including a trio of paintings of Ian Curtis.

I loved them immediately. I couldn’t stop staring at them. Out of happenstance, B. mentioned the paintings to the bartender; a chap named Zeb Ringer who was also the artist. Not only that, but the paintings were for sale. When B. told me this, I couldn’t help myself. I HAD to ask.

They were pretty reasonably priced, but still art prices. I asked the artist if he would sell one of them. He told me he couldn’t do that because they were actually a unified painting. He asked me to stand far back and look at the gray areas as one picture. I did. They were Ian Curtis’ face formed in the Manchester smog blanketing each painting. Incredible. I was sold.

Luckily, whatwith the poor state of my accounts, B. offered to buy them for us. He’s picking them up on Sunday. I am so excited! We have the perfect place for them in the front room. Come on over and see ’em!

April 25, 2008
Categories: Dear Diary, Seattle . . Author: Baxter . Comments: 3 Comments

The Uncommonness of New China Express

I passed by it a hundred times without a second glance. With a name like New China Express, what could possibly be unusual about it? It sounds like the sort of bland Chinese you would find in the food court at the mall. But one day, But when I got a menu in the mail, I added it to my delivery menus pile. And then the day came that I was too hungover to leave the house. I needed food brought to me STAT! I thumbed through my menu stack. Indian, Thai, pizza…none of these would do. Chinese was the way forward.

So I called up Snappy Dragon only to learn that there was a 2 hour wait on deliveries. (I guess I wasn’t the only person needing the MSG cure that Sunday morning). And then I saw it. New China Express. Free delivery. Well, why not? What’s the worst that could happen? I ignored exploring the answers to this question and picked up the phone.

25 minutes later, a modern-day apothecary arrived on my doorstep carrying the Tofu with Soft Egg rice and some golden egg rolls. It smelled amazing and tasted even better. It was a miracle cure in a Styrofoam box.

I’ll be honest. I haven’t ordered from New China Express under ordinary circumstances. But I can personally attest to their usefulness after an errant Saturday night.

4232 University Way NE 98105
(206) 632-5833

Menu available online at Husky88.com.

What restaurants in 98105 serve up your favorite hangover cure? Answer in the comments!
X-Posted from 98105.net

April 18, 2008
Categories: 98105.net, Seattle . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

In the Company of Greatness

A couple of months ago, my department was hiring Quality Control Assistants. It’s a fancy title for one who watches our content from start to finish and tells me if there’s anything wrong with it. I couldn’t believe my luck when a gregarious fellow named Chas walked into my office. He was gregarious as hell, enthusiastic about the job and, more importantly, didn’t blink an eye when I told him the embarrassingly paltry sum he would receive in exchange for his services. It helped that when we got to talking, I learned that he was originally from the east coast and had not only heard of all the Richmond punk bands I grew up listening to, but was a fan of them as well. What a find!

What I didn’t know until later, was that Chas was also fast becoming a local celebrity. Every week he would invite me to the shows he put on at Re-Bar and every week, I would, sadly, have other plans. I finally made it to one event, a Homecoming-themed fundraiser for Barack Obama, and had a blast. But I still haven’t been able to make it to the real breadwinner event, Get Loweded. Well, this week, my dear Chas has been profiled in the Stranger. The article reveals still more fascinating details about this unique and precious snowflake and I feel very unfortunate, indeed, to have not been able to make it to prior Get Loweded events. I STILL can’t make it to the next one, but I’m definitely going to the one after that. By then, however, it will probably be the hottest ticket in town. At least I can say I knew Chas when. Even if it was only seconds before he exploded like a supernova.

April 18, 2008
Categories: Seattle . Tags: . Author: Baxter . Comments: 2 Comments

Don’t Be Scared of Scarecrow Video

X-Posted from 98105.net.

It’s true. It can be a bit intimidating to rent videos at Scarecrow Video, whatwith their two stories of rare and imported DVDs on top of all the usual fare. More intimidating still is the staff that actually has to take a test as part of their employment application. Perhaps it is passing this trial that gives some of the staff a bit of an ego.
I will always remember my experience when attempting to rent the Monkees movie…

As a general rule, I dislike asking staff in shops for help, so I first looked for it myself in the music section next to the Monkees TV show. It was not there. I slunk downstairs and located an employee. I knew what the movie was called, but I felt weird asking if they had “Head”, so I opted for what I deemed to be a less risqué, more informational method of inquiry.

“Do you have the Monkees movie?”

The man behind the counter scoffed (yes, scoffed). “You mean “Head”?”

“Yeeees.”

Without hesitation or the aid of the store’s database, he responded “That would be in the Bob Rafelson section.”

We blinked at each other for a couple of seconds and then I headed to the directors’ section.

Now, I am a bit of a movie geek myself so I was familiar with Rafelson, who also directed “Five Easy Pieces” and “The Postman Always Rings Twice”. But forgive me if I didn’t think the man warranted his own section in a video store. This particular employee did not forgive me.

This experience is certainly not typical at Scarecrow. Most of the employees are helpful and enthusiastic. But there are enough encounters like this to give myself and others I’ve spoken to pause when they want to rent a silly Hollywood movie like, say, “Hot Rod”. If you don’t have a specific film in mind, however, or you have a very specific RARE movie in mind, the folks at Scarecrow (mostly) can and will be more than happy to help you out.

Check out their blog for recommendations, news about new releases and sale announcements.

5030 Roosevelt Way NE 98105
(206) 524-8554
www.scarecrow.com

Do you have a Scarecrow horror/help story? Tell it in the comments!

April 16, 2008
Categories: 98105.net, Filmpinions, Seattle . . Author: Baxter . Comments: 2 Comments

Stabberella

The Slog, by way of the P.I. reported yet another stabbing on Capitol Hill on Saturday. What the hell, Seattle? This time, it's not just the stabbing itself that is weird, but the reaction of the witnesses and the reporting paper.


“I don't know what to make of that. I surely don't.”

At least this time the victim is still alive to tell the tale.

April 3, 2008
Categories: Seattle, This is the End . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

NFT Radar: Wayward Cafe

X-Posted from Not For Tourists.

The Wayward Cafe is an odd name for a vegan cafe with clear procedures about operations. You walk in and claim one of the few available seats. You grab a menu and choose from a steady list of vegan staples like tempeh sandwiches and tofu scramble. You order at the counter and pay cash. Then you sit and wait for your food. And wait. And wait. Hey, competent vegan cooking takes time! While you wait, you read the vegan literature or take in the colorful outfits of the other patrons. When your food finally arrives, you are astonished at how large the portions are, considering what you paid. You are pleasantly surprised at just how delicious a plate of food containing no cheese, eggs or butter can be, even if you are staunch carnivore. If you aren't accustomed to the heaviness of the vegan diet, you MAY need a to-go box which you can purchase for $1 (which goes to help the little piggies you aren't eating). You will bus your own table and probably want to grab a Mighty-O-Donut from the case for later. This is how things always are at the Wayward Cafe: regimented and explicit, but never boring. Not the atmosphere, nor the food.

901 NE 55th St 98105
206-524-0204

April 1, 2008
Categories: NotForTourists, Seattle . Tags: . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

NFT Radar: Blue Onion Bistro

X-Posted from Not For Tourists.

Lovers of kitsch (myself included) can’t help but be drawn in by the fifties-style blue exterior of this converted gas station. Continue to delight in the knick-knack adorned walls and velvet paintings of the interior. If you’re like me, you may also recognize their Ikea chairs. But the sign outside Blue Onion Bistro isn’t boasting “Seattle’s Most Comfortable Dining Room.” No, no. It’s “Seattle’s Best Comfort Food.” That is, if “comfort” is code for “greasy.” Blue Onion’s menu of traditional down-home cooking is served for dinner (excluding Monday) and weekend brunch. Dishes like Chicken Fried Steak and Hotdog Mac and Cheese Bake are delicious for the first couple of bites, but soon become overwhelming if you aren’t used to that much oil. If you decide to clean your plate, know that the meatloaf you just inhaled is going to take up residence in your stomach for the next 12 hours. The vegetarian dishes aren’t exempt from the oil-sploitation either. If your mama raised you on heavy cooking, you’ll feel right at home at the Blue Onion. But I prefer to get my comfort from a bento box.

5801 Roosevelt Way NE 98105
206-729-0579
http://www.theblueonionbistro.com

March 28, 2008
Categories: NotForTourists, Seattle . . Author: Baxter . Comments: 2 Comments

NFT Radar: Dante's Inferno Bar

X-Posted from Not For Tourists.

If 5000 square feet of games and booze is hell, I’m happy to go there. OK, so I suppose that in the full swing of UW’s school year, the inferno does lap at your nerves a bit. But when school’s out, the adults can fully enjoy all that Dante’s has to offer. And it offers much. Every night of the week is dedicated to some sort of big-kid merriment: Karaoke Mondays, Beer pong Tuesdays, Trivia Wednesdays and Thirsty Thursdays with PBR specials. The weekend is reserved for DJs and live music. Most Saturdays, you can hear DJ Motor spin decent hip hop. On Sundays, cheer for the local sports teams while scarfing down the manna that is their Nacho Fiesta Bowl. And, like any bar between NE 42nd and Ravenna, Dante’s attracts the most colorful of drunk folk, so even without students, there’s nary a dull moment. Bonus: Apparently, Dante’s was a favorite hangout of lady-killer Ted Bundy. Discuss.

5300 Roosevelt Way NE 98105
206-525-1300
http://www.myspace.com/dantesseattle

March 18, 2008
Categories: NotForTourists, Seattle . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

NFT Radar: Serious Pie

X-Posted from Not For Tourists.

Local food god Tom Douglas owns Belltown with his unique gourmet twists on everyday foodstuffs. The man is so beloved by his patrons that he could probably start a cult. I might even be among those who would happily slurp his Kool-Aid cocktail. Serious Pies, his take on the family pizza joint, is no deviation from his food mastery. The menu is small but won’t fail to please any palate. The brick oven pizza crust, made next door in the Dahlia Bakery, is crisped to perfection. The toppings, both in terms of flavor and quantity, are in perfect harmony. If you are a fan of truffles, you will absolutely devour the roasted chanterelles and truffle cheese pizza. More extensive is their beer and wine list which is set to compliment any order. The family-style seating is a little cozy but makes the upscale food seem a little more accessible. One pie, along with an appetizer, comfortably serves two, making this the perfect casual date spot. The two of you can discuss theories about their logo and what exactly the little guy has caught on fire.

316 Virginia St 98121
206-838-7388
http://tomdouglas.com/serious/index.html

March 17, 2008
Categories: NotForTourists, Seattle . . Author: Baxter . Comments: Leave a comment

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