Arts & Culture
Book Excerpt: A Fun Ride
Biking Uphill in the Rain explores Seattle’s robust bicycling culture
Despite Seattle’s infamous hills and seemingly constant drizzle, the city is known across the United States for its strong bicycling culture. Bicycling magazine, in fact, has named Seattle the best bike city in the country. A new book by Tom Fucoloro, the founder of the popular Seattle Bike Blog, takes a deep dive into the…
Arts: Picture Perfect
Robin Layton is nothing short of a Seattle treasure
Much like capturing the perfect moment on film, photographer Robin Layton’s life is a series of moments that are almost hard to believe. Some would call them coincidences, and others, instances of fate. Remember that iconic photo of a grinning Ken Griffey sliding across home plate (“The Smile at the Bottom of the Pile”) to…
Datebook: Fall Arts Finds
A look at some of the upcoming season’s hottest works
As the long, hot days of summer melt away into cooler temps and earlier evenings, Seattleites are about to make the seasonal shift toward indoor activities. While monthly art walks and occasional museum visits are popular year-round, for those in the know, back-to-school sales also signal the start of Fall Arts: the time of year…
A City by Design
Seattle Design Festival seeks to create equitable, thriving communities
THE LARGEST DESIGN FESTIVAL in the Pacific Northwest is right around the corner, and organizers are asking residents to weigh in on Seattle’s future self. The Seattle Design Festival, which began in 2011, runs from Aug. 19-24. It features interactive cultural events across the city with an overarching theme of “Curiosity.” Festival organizers anticipate that…
Blender Bender
Seattle's experience research lab tells stories through artwork, installations and architecture
Back in March 2021 — just as the drab Seattle winter started to give way to lighter days and slightly higher temperatures — a storefront niche on the always-thronged corner of Capitol Hill’s Pike and Broadway intersection underwent a transformation. Formerly an easy-to-miss entryway sandwiched between a coffee shop and Neighbours Nightclub, the small, windowed…
Discovering Taylor Swift
A mosh-pit era music fan attends the Taylor Swift concert and finds a culture of kindness in Seattle
The takeover was complete. King County Council named July 18th-25th Taylor Swift Week, “for serving as a positive role model for women and girls,” the proclamation read. She would become the first artist to play Lumen Field two nights in a row. I said to myself: that’s cool, with a shrug. I was not a Taylor…
When History Was Changed
Making AI Work For You
A few days ago, as I was walking to the grocery store, I verbally asked Bing ChatGPT-4: “Can you come up with a three-course menu for a scrumptious dinner for eight? Create a combined shopping list organized by grocery aisle? Merge the cooking instructions of the recipes? Tell me what to do sequentially to have…
King County Library System Makes Summer Reading Fun | Sponsored
Children, teens and adults can all win prizes through its annual program
Join the King County Library System (KCLS) for all-ages summer reading! Earn prizes and attend events at your KCLS library all summer long. Our free Summer Reading Program is open to children, teens, and adults — all are welcome! Visit kcls.org/summer to get started. Here’s how to participate: Drop into your KCLS library to pick up a Reading Challenge log or…
Book: Jane Wong’s got the write stuff
Poet Jane Wong finds emotional release in her debut memoir, ‘Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City’
Like all poets, Jane Wong likes to play with language. Collecting words, ordering them, weaving ideas and stories together, then depositing them on paper with the hurried, scrawling motion of a pen or ubiquitous, punctuating taps on a keyboard. The results are magnetic — both for their narrative and lyrical quality. For anyone who has…
Essentials: Washington’s obsession with movies
Tinsel Town North
Washington residents love movies. Horror flicks in particular. Online casino guide Japan-101 analyzed search volume data for multiple phrases, terms and queries related to movies and movie genres, concluding that “Washington is one of the states most obsessed with movies.” Perhaps it’s no accident that horror movies ranked No. 1. Numerous popular horror movies have…
Arts: Seattle’s Rap Party
The sound that is now defining Seattle
Seattle has never wanted to be cool — and that’s precisely what makes it so. When the grunge movement of the ’90s sprung to the forefront of mainstream American culture, Kurt Cobain’s ripped jeans and thrifted cardigans did so in direct opposition to perfectly over-tweezed eyebrows and super-synchronized boy bands. As Clark Humphrey writes in…
Book: A tribute to Northwest Films
New book details a thriving, rich film culture
David Schmader lives in El Paso, Texas, now, but he’s no stranger to Pacific Northwest culture. Schmader is a former staff writer and editor at Seattle alt publication The Stranger, where he wrote the popular column, “Last Days: The Week in Review” for 18 years. He is also a performer, and his solo plays were…
What this year’s Seattle-based SIFF films say about our changing city
Seattle may have parted from grunge, but self-expression in spite of convention remains a local state of mind
Seattle may change, but at its core, it will always be that angsty 90’s kid. This year’s Seattle International Film Festival’s (SIFF) lineup of Northwest-centered films presents a reflection of our city from past to present. Over the years, the ongoing conversations about the changing face of Seattle have permeated all industries from tech to…
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